Lesser Known Heroes: Sonny Hooper

When I was a boy, I didn’t dream of becoming a doctor or a lawyer. I didn’t want to be an astronaut or a professional baseball player. No, I wanted to be a stuntman. Nothing in the world seemed as exciting to me as crashing out of the window of a high-rise building onto an airbag, taking a spray of bullets, and dying on screen as convincingly as possible.

I don’t know why this appealed to me, but it seemed like so much fun. As a movie fan from a young age, I think I always enjoyed the behind-the-scenes stuff that peeled back the curtain on how things were done.

After my first trip to Universal Studios and experiencing the tram tour, I was hooked. I wanted to be a part of the magic that made movies extraordinary. In fact, when I go to Universal Studios now with visiting family, I am always let down by how short the actual studio tour part has become. It’s less about the practical effects that were the bread and butter of the industry and more about rides, CGI, and entertainment.

So, when I first saw the film Hooper, it was probably in the early eighties. It spoke to me in a way that I can hardly describe even now.

Hooper is the story of a professional stuntman named Sonny Hooper, played to perfection by Burt Reynolds. Once at the top of his game, he’s now aging out of the job. There are only so many high falls and crashes your body can take, and he is quickly reaching his limit. The story finds him at a crossroads in his career.

After a charity event, Sonny meets a young daredevil named Ski, played by Jan-Michael Vincent in his prime. Sonny invites him to work with him on his new film, a high-octane Bond-type thriller with plenty of action.

The stunts are all of a practical nature. What you see is what you get. Not only do you get to see speeding cars flip over, but you get to see how it’s done.

Sonny Hooper can do it all, but it requires a steady supply of Coors beer and painkillers to keep his body moving. Everyone around him tells him it’s time to hang it up and retire. “Let the young turks take the risks.”

As the rivalry between Sonny and Ski escalates, Sonny’s own ego places him deeper and deeper in trouble, and we just can’t look away to see if he can survive.

The love interest, Gwen Doyle, is played by Sally Field, who is the daughter of Sonny’s mentor, Jocko Doyle. Jocko is a legend in the business who represents one version of what Sonny might become — a broken-down version of himself.

The world created in the film feels so believable; the danger our hero experiences feels more real. The pressures of the studio getting what they want, as well as the self-obsessed director making demands, all add to the tension of the story.

Oh yeah, and it’s a comedy.

Director Hal Needham, a veteran stuntman in his own right, has been responsible for some of the best comedies of the seventies and eighties. While many of them venture into farcical territory (Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit), Hooper retains an edge that doesn’t slide too far from the serious world of the story. It really is a love letter to the world of professional stunt performers.

That’s why Sonny Hooper is a lesser-known hero to me.